Los
Progresivos
The Progressive Tenses
are used to indicate that something is
at that point in time in progress.
It is made up of 2 parts:
1. conjugated form of ESTAR
2. present participle (the “ing” word)
ie…(Yo) estoy hablando ahora.
ie…Yo estaba comiendo cuando …
Conjugated forms of Estar
estoy
estamos
estaré
estaremos
estás
-----
estarás
-----
está
están
estará
estarán
estaba
estábamos
estaría
estaríamos
estabas
-----
estarías
-----
estaba
estaban
estaría
estarían
The Progressive Tenses
are used considerably LESS in
Spanish than they are in English.
Alternate constructions:
The verbs ANDAR, IR, SEGUIR,
CONTINUAR and VENIR may
also be used to form the progressive,
but are NOT as commonly used as
ESTAR.
Forming the present participle
(regular)
1. Drop the last two letters from the
infinitive form of the verb.
2. Add the appropriate endings
1. Ar – ando ie…hablando
2. Er – iendo ie…comiendo
3. Ir – iendo ie…escribiendo
Forming the present participle
(stem changing)
1. IR verbs that have a stem change in
the pres. ind. tense will reflect only a
ONE LETTER stem change in the
present participle of that verb.
ie...servir (i) - sirviendo
dormir (u) - durmiendo
Forming the present participle (irregular)
1. Exception: Er or Ir verbs whose
stem end in a vowel: leer – leyendo
except for SEGUIR, CONSEGUIR
2. The verb IR, and PODER –
yendo, and pudiendo
3. Reír, Sonreír – riendo, sonriendo
4. Verbs that end in ñir lose the i –
gruñir – gruñendo
Distinguishing the
Progressive Tenses
1. The Present Progressive is used
when the action is in progress at the
point of reference (past, present,
future).
ie..Uds. estaban tomando apuntes…
Ie...Uds. están tomando apuntes…
Ie..Uds. estarán tomando apuntes…
Object Pronouns with Progressive Tenses
1. Object pronouns may be placed in
front of the conjugated verb or
attached to the pres. participle:
ie...Yo estoy bañándome…
ie..Yo me estoy bañando…
Other Usages of the
Present Participle
The present participle may also be
used to express BY + present
participle.
ie…No vas a solucionar nada
llorando, Marta.
Progressive Tenses Practice
hablar
yo
future progressive
Yo estaré hablando
comer
Paco present progressive
Paco está comiendo
manejar
tú
past progressive
Tú estabas manejando